EU stops funding for Palestine

No more “business as usual,” according to Brussels.

Following the attack by the Islamist group Hamas on Israel, the EU has stopped all aid and development assistance to Palestine, the body said on Monday. Oliver Varhelyi, the EU Neighbourhood and Enlargement Commissioner, stated that additional budget measures pertaining to aid had also been put off “until further notice.”

The official claimed that the “scale of terror and brutality against Israel and its people” had been a “turning point” for the EU and that Brussels would be reviewing its whole aid and development strategy towards Palestine.

Varhelyi wrote on X (formerly Twitter) in a series of messages, “There can be no business as usual.” “We must take immediate action.”

The remarks followed a surprise raid by Hamas in which militants crossed into Israel from Gaza and briefly took control of a number of communities after launching a significant rocket barrage. According to estimates by Israeli police, the assault resulted in more than 2,200 injuries and over 700 fatalities.

Varhelyi claims that the EU has been “the biggest donor” to the Palestinians, and that Monday’s decision will have an impact on €691 million ($728.8 million) in development funds. “All payments are suspended right away. All initiatives have been reviewed, he said, adding that “it is now imperative to address the foundations for peace, tolerance, and coexistence.”

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The commissioner said, “Incitement of hatred, violence, and glorification of terror have poisoned the minds of so many.” The EU has committed a total of €1.18 billion ($1.24 billion) in support for both the West Bank and Gaza between 2021 and 2024, according to the Financial Times.

The EU Commission, which categorises Hamas as a terrorist organisation, denied that any of its funding had gone to the organisation. Following the incident on Saturday, the EU declared, “The EU is not funding Hamas or their terrorist activities directly or indirectly,” adding that it had a “no contact policy” with the group since 2007.

Following Berlin’s announcement that it will also cease funding to the Palestinians and evaluate its assistance and development programmes, Brussels made its decision the following day. Berlin would “examine our entire commitment to the Palestinian territories,” according to German Development Minister Svenja Schulze, who described the Hamas attack as a “terrible turning point.”

German MP Gregor Gysi, a well-known Left Party member, criticised the decision and stated that not all Palestinians should be held liable for Hamas’s deeds. Hamas cannot be supported, he told Der Spiegel, but Palestinian organisations can and must.